


Mando'a - A Grammar Guide

by Yatenari (SeKaYa)



Series: Mando'a Cruxaide [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Republic Commando Series - Karen Traviss
Genre: Languages and Linguistics, Mandalorian, Mandalorian Culture, Mandalorian Language, Mando'a, Meta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeKaYa/pseuds/Yatenari
Summary: An online version of a written-for-print-out grammar guide for the fictional language of the Mandalorians: Mando'a.
Series: Mando'a Cruxaide [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878112
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Preamble & Content

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a _total_ guide, since it is still subject to revisions and changes. As such, I am very happy about any feedback and corrections.
> 
> Also a word of caution: I'm not a native English-speaker, so some things might be phrased confusingly (or is a misunderstanding of something that is obvious in English).
> 
> The table of contents in this chapter will be updated with new chapters/topics being added.

Mando'a (the Mandalorian language) first appeared in the soundtrack for the Republic Commando game, as the lyrics to various songs written by Jesse Harlin. It was then developed into a functional by Karen Traviss. It appears throughout various of her books in bits and pieces and she had a section dedicated to Mando'a on her website. When she stopped working on Star Wars, she removed those sections – they can still be accessed via the wayback machine.

The last _official_ version of the dictionary she released is dated to April 2009. It is an Excel sheet that is very rudimentary on deeper language information – it has a column for the Mando'a words, for the pronunciation and the meaning. The pronunciation guide uses English sounds, which may leave it open to interpretation. Due to the nature of the worksheet in its last release form – a last release of whatever Traviss had on the language – it is somewhat riddled with typos and mistakes, so while the information is largely considered to be canon, sometimes the words need to be re-viewed and taken with a grain of salt.

Since it has not been officially been worked on since 2009 and it was in the hands of fans to go further with the language for a good ten years, there have developed a number of _dialects_. Some of them may introduce completely new roots (which make texts much harder to understand) or a myriad of new compound words. Due to the nature of these words, any fanon words will be appropriately noted. It has to be mentioned that the dictionary is very incomplete, so sometimes either a lot of paraphrasing becomes necessary – or creating a fanon word.

The grammar is based mostly on the quick grammar guide provided by Traviss on her homepage (still accessible via archived files), which is given as dating from 2006, and statements taken from her article in Star Wars Insider #86, _The Mandalorians: People and Culture_ , which includes a section about Mando'a, _No Word for Hero_. Where the grammar guide and the article remain ambiguous or lack in examples, mainly the ones provided by the dictionary have been used. Some grammatical rules are mostly conjecture and/or based on regular usage by fans, where also a half-selective application of the grammar guide may apply (i. e. when parts of the grammar guide have been forgotten due to rarity of use).

The application of the words and grammar are thus partly my own interpretation, which might become more obvious when it comes to the phrasebook and where it differs from official sourced material. I have attempted to make the appropriate caveats at the given passages.

* * *

## Content

### Basics

  * Alphabet & Script
  * Pronunciation



### Grammar

  * Nouns
  * Pronouns
  * Adjectives
  * Verbs
  * Negation



### Conversation

  * Aliit & Addressing People




	2. Basics: Alphabet & Script

Mando'a has its own script within the Star Wars universe – it first appeared in _Episode II: Attack of the Clones_ and later in _Star Wars: The Clone Wars_ and _Star Wars Rebels_ (they're not necessarily depicting Mando'a language, though, but are English written in a different script, thus the additional letters). It has 26 letters, corresponding to the letters of the English alphabet, three of which are _not_ natively Mandalorian, as Mando'a itself does not have F, X or Z. These letters were according to the in-verse explanation added to enable the transcription of foreign words, though they don't have the additional letters of Aurebesh (which would be one of the most common scripts in Star Wars).

Mando'a has an additional 27th character that is quite characteristic to the look of the language. This character is called _beten_ (it is missing from the letter chart and is denoted by an apostrophe in Latin script). Beten means _sigh_ in Mando'a and is used as a glottal stop, but also to denote contracted letters and where a word was combined to make a compound. The latter uses aren't always necessary, since contracted and combined words would eventually be ripe with apostrophes otherwise. There are no defined rules to the exact usage of beten – where they are needed or not – so it is necessary to develop a sense for the right look.

The writing is an alphabet – each letter is a single character – and is written from left to right in horizontal lines. Variants are possible, and there exist a lot of fanon variations of the script, changing single symbols or remapping some of the character-to-letter relationships (notable here is that some have moved from the orthographic writing of using the script more as a cipher to reworking it to become a sound-based writing system).

As the script is heavily based on single strokes and the letters are hard to distinguish – even harder when written by hand – there are some efforts to create more handwriting friendly variations of the script and alternative fonts. None of those are canon, though, and may make reading a text difficult. Since it is difficult to find a proper font for the original version without alterations, the script will be excluded from the grammar guide.


	3. Basics: Pronunciation

Pronunciation is both kept simple and somewhat tricky. Generally, Mando'a is supposed to follow Basic pronunciation – in this, Basic is the Star Wars in-verse stand-in for English (originally). This means, that Mando'a would, when in doubt, be pronounced like English, which is in itself already tricky, since there are a vast variation of pronunciations in English, starting with the broadest versions of differentiating between _British English_ and _American English_ , and even those are only scratching the surface. It is not helped by the fact that Karen Traviss is a British author, which would indicate using British English as base, when _Basic_ may be considered to be, by default, more American English.

There are indicated a lot of _regional_ variations that result in swapping related sounds – _t_ and _d_ , _v_ and _w_ and _b_ and _v_. Since _d_ is said to be the archaic variant and _t_ the modern, it is supposedly a sound shift, even though there is no hard evidence for it. Since there is ample example given for _different_ pronunciations, it can be said that there is a somewhat _standard_ variant of Mando'a with a multitude of dialectal variations.

Since most of the variations are clearly meant to make Mando'a easily pronounceable for non-native speakers of English – notably is the way _h_ is supposed to be aspirated as it mirrors French – the pronunciation introduced here will be what can be considered a _standard_ variant (as analysed by A'nu Biss).

Romanisation of the sounds used in Mando'a does not always follow a 1:1 relationship, so while the _beten_ can stand in for a glottal stop [ʔ], not all instances where a _beten_ appears are glottal stops.

The five vowels a, e, i, o and u can stand in for about eight vowel _sounds_ , and their pronunciation is partly dependant on the adjacent consonants – and it can also play a role if the syllable is intended to be stressed or not. Thus, _a_ is generally pronounced [a], while it can become a diphthong sound with either _i_ or _y_ (becoming [aɪ]) – or be pronounced [æ] when surrounded by two consonants.  


While written Mando'a does not natively have _f_ as a letter, it retains [f] as a sound – which is written _vh_ , when it occurs in Mando'a words. For foreign words, _f_ would be used, since for that very purpose, the letter allegedly has been added. Mando'a uses _ch_ to sound like [ʧ], and has various combinations involving _c_ that produce different sounds: So, _c_ is [k] when adjacent to a _short_ vowel and can become [s] when adjacent to _y_ or _i_. Mostly, _c_ is spoken as [ʃ], just as is _sh_.

A more elaborate list of the letter-to-sound relation including an English quick reference and an audio example for each sound can be found in A'nu Biss' google-docs document (linked on the source page) – the file also contains an IPA rendition of the pronunciation guide from the original dictionary that can be used as reference.


	4. Grammar: Nouns

Mando'a has a very reduced grammar – if compared to languages like Latin with a lot of inflected forms. It is supposed to be short and concise, but has the flaw of being incomplete, so parts of the grammar may be conjecture. The basic parts of grammar have been defined, but specific cases are a bit harder to work with, since the offered examples do not cover all cases or are actually declared as archaic.

One of the most defining features of Mando'a is the lack of gender – Mando'a does not have grammatical gender and words are per se gender-neutral, with few exceptions (like, the word for _woman_ exists and denotes a female, and derived words contain part of the word for _female_ ). When talking about a parent, if not further specified, it is not clear if one is talking about mother or father.

Another thing is that Mando'a has words for articles, but only uses them in exceptional cases – like in titles or for emphasis. There are two forms for the definite article (the): _haar_ and _te_. And there is an even rarer indefinite article (a): _eyn_.

### Nouns

Nouns – that is _main words_ – in Mando'a aren't clearly identifiable by their form. There are several endings that can belong to Mando'a nouns, and they can end on both vowels or consonants. Mando'a doesn't capitalise words, even though proper nouns are capitalised when using Latin script (Mando'a script does not have known capitals). There are no fixed rules to how a noun is built, but most of Mando'a can be built by derivation and creating compound words.

There have been instances where Mando'a's way of creating compounds is called _German_ , even though Mando'a has a distinctive lack of clear rules on how a compound is made, which is in part due to how cases work in Mando'a.

* * *

#### Plural

Mando'a knows two distinctive _Numeri_ : singular and plural. The Excel sheet is not entirely clear if Mando'a has words that are only plural or only singular. There are some words that are given with their plural forms – like _kebise_ (stuff). The English equivalent of the plural is a collective singular, however it is not clear if there can be a singular "stuff" in Mando'a or if a potential singular has a different meaning. This happens for a few words where the plural can have an additional meaning.

Plurals in Mando'a are regularly built by attaching a suffix. This suffix comes in two forms: _-e_ after a consonant and _-se_ after a vowel.

jetii  
Jedi[sg.]  
Jedi 

jetiise  
Jedi[pl.]  
Jedis; Republic 

Mando'ad  
Mando-child  
Mandalorian 

Mando'ade  
Mando-child[pl.]  
Mandalorians 

There are a few exceptions or notable words. For one, the word _shebs_ (butt) ends on _-s_ , so the plural would be made using _-e_. This plural _shebse_ looks like an irregular form where the singular would be _sheb_ instead of the correct _shebs_. Also, _gett'se_ is a plural with unknown singular. The word has two meanings – _courage_ on the one hand, _nuts_ (as in walnuts) on the other. The first meaning would not need a singular, the second makes using a singular more likely. It isn't known how the singular is. It could be _gett's_ , so the plural would be similarly misleading as for _shebs_ , or there could be an omitted vowel (replaced by a _beten_ ) that would cause -se to be the plural suffix.

gett'se  
nut[pl.]  
nuts; courage 

shebs  
butt  
butt 

shebse  
butt[pl.]  
butts 

Another exception is the word _ba'vodu_ (aunt, uncle), which has its plural ending on -e instead of -se. Since it contains a beten, it might be that the _s_ is omitted. Thus, the plural to _ba'vodu_ is _ba'vodu'e_ , which may lead to some confusion with words that are singulars with an -'e at the end. Notably here is _aru'e_ (enemy) which is a singular noun, but may appear as a plural.

  
ba'vodu  
uncle  
uncle 

  
ba'vodu'e  
uncle[pl.]  
uncles 

There is one official instance of an exception to using a simple suffix attached to the singular to mark a plural. This is noted specifically for word _ad'ika_ , which is a diminutive of the word _ad_ (child). _-'ika_ in general is a diminutive suffix that can be attached to nouns or names to indicate either a smaller version or closeness. When attached to a given name, the name is usually reduced to a shortened form, often the first syllable. This is not a strict rule, though. The plural for _ad'ika_ is given as _ad'ike_ , thus a sound shift occurs at the end of the word instead of attaching _-se_ as with other words.

  
ad'ika  
child[dim.]  
lil' child 

  
ad'ike  
child[dim.+pl.]  
lil' children 

It has to be noted that, while _ad_ means _child_ , it can also be used in different contexts. So, calling someone _ad'ika_ can also mean something like _mate_.

The article in Star Wars Insider also specifically mentions the archaic plural using _-a_ , which disappeared over time, but apparently survives in some archaic forms, like _werda_. It is also possible, that _ka'ra_ contains such a plural from the singular _kar_ (which is not a distinct entry in the dictionary but has precedence in how it appears in _karbakar_ , which literally means _star-to-star_.

As a variant of this archaic plural, and modelled partly after how the plural for _ad'ika_ works, I have used a proposed form where nouns ending on _-a_ may have a plural on _-e_ , instead of using the proper form of _-se_.

* * *

#### Possessive

Mando'a does not have a distinctive case system. The only case which can be obvious by its form is the possessive. The possessive can be denoted by a variation of methods, which can all be used equally, even though some are considered rare in their usage.

  
kad be'jetii  
sword of-Jedi  
[a] Jedi's sword 

  
  
  
  


Classical use of the possessive affix _be_. _Be_ can be used as both a prefix (standard use) and a suffix (more rare). In the Excel sheet, the word is specified as going with proper nouns (which are essentially names), but it is generally used with all kinds of nouns – often as a particle instead of an affix. For the above example, it would be changed to _kad be jetii_ , which has no difference in meaning. When used as a prefix, there is rough rule to shorten _be_ to _b'_ in front of a vowel to make the pronunciation easier.

  
kad jetiib  
sword Jedi-of  
[a] Jedi's sword 

  
  
  
  


Using _be_ as suffix is rare and problematic with nouns that naturally end on a _b_ , like _dalab_ (sheath), or a consonant that doesn't really allow for further addition while being still pronounceable, like _shebs_ (butt).

Also, it has to be noted, that not all instances of a _be'-_ in front of a word are a possessive: In _be'chaaj_ (away) or _be'senaar_ (missile) it is not denoting a possessive. The latter means that the word for _missile_ is identical to the possessive of _bird_ (senaar). This can either be handled by context, or, at least in writing, in differentiating between _be'senaar_ and _be senaar_.

A third method of denoting a possessive is to have the proper noun preceding the possessed noun. This, naturally, does work best with proper nouns, while general nouns could be mistaken as compound words of a derived or more detailed meaning.

  
Boba'kad  
Boba-sword  
Boba's sword 

  
  
  
  


Here, _Boba_ is a given name (thus, a proper noun) while _kad_ is the noun being possessed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have only included _one_ translation for words that have differently gendered nouns in English without a gender-neutral one. So, _ba'vodu_ is not _only_ "uncle", but also "aunt" or a general "sibling of one's parent", but for grammar, it is a bit too long to list the different possibilities of translating the word - and it would make things more convoluted.


	5. Grammar: Pronouns

### Pronouns

#### Personal Pronouns

Generally, Mando'a does not have other personal pronouns than English – so, no additional plural variants of an inclusive or exclusive we and so on. It is notable that it copies parts of English in how they are set up.

| sg. | pl.  
---|---|---  
1st Per. | ni | mhi ( _alt._ vi)  
2nd Pers. | gar | gar  
3rd Pers. | kaysh | val  
  
As can be seen by looking at the forms, _gar_ (you) is the same for singular and plural, mirroring English usage.

Mando'a doesn't differentiate between nominative (subject) and accusative/dative (object) in the form of the pronouns. They are the same for all these cases, so _I_ is the same as _me_ – both are said as _ni_ in Mando'a. A special case in Mando'a is that _kaysh_ is gender-neutral – it is used for both _he_ and _she_ , while the neutral _it_ may be indicated by _bic_. The plural form _val_ seems to encompass all usages – both for he/she and it. Also, while it is not clearly stated in the dictionary or the grammar guides, it can be assumed that _bic_ also includes the usage as object, since at least English does not use different forms for these cases.

| sg. | pl.  
---|---|---  
1st Per. | ni | I, me | mhi | we, us  
2nd Pers. | gar | you | gar | you  
3rd Pers. | kaysh | he, she, him, her | val | they, them  
  
* * *

#### Possessive Pronouns

Mando'a is very sparse in different pronouns. It is notable that the 2nd and 3rd persons are the same for _all_ cases, so _gar_ means not only _you_ (sg. and pl.) but also _your_ , _kaysh_ has the additional meanings of _his_ and _her_ (poss.) and _val_ covers all cases: _they_ , _them_ , _their_. The form using _bic_ as _its_ is not given in the dictionary or the grammar guides, but since no other forms are given, it can be assumed that _bic_ follows the same rules as _kaysh_ and _val_.

| sg. | pl.  
---|---|---  
1st Per. | ner | cuun ( _alt._ mhor)  
2nd Pers. | gar* | gar*  
3rd Pers. | kaysh* | val*  
  
The exception to this is the 1st person. The first person has different possessive pronouns, namely _ner_ and _cuun_. _Ner_ is easily related to _ni_ , while _cuun_ is an outlier. The archaic form is _mhor_ and can be similarly to _ni_ be seen to be related to _mhi_. It mostly only appears in some of the songs, though. It can be considered to be slightly on odds with the archaic version _vi_ (we), though, and might indicate that Mando'a once had a bit more variety in how personal pronouns were used.


	6. Grammar: Adjectives

### Adjectives

#### Positive

Adjectives in Mando'a come in a variety of forms. There are some adjectives that are not distinguishable from nouns – they lack a specialised adjective suffix. An example for such an adjective would be the word _adenn_ (merciless). This type of adjective can only be recognised via the English translation of the word, since it is not recognisable. The adjective suffixes are only missing in the so-called positive, which is the standard form of a given adjective, and even suffix-less positives have mostly regular comparative and superlative forms.

The common way to identify an adjective in Mando'a is by the two possible adjective suffixes: _-la_ and _-yc_. There is nominally no difference between using one above the other – the usage is supposed to be solely dependent on _ease of pronunciation_. So, theoretically, while the original word list gives _mesh'la_ (beautiful), the form _mesh'yc_ would be also permitted. The two suffixes _-la_ and _-yc_ are used to derive adjectives from other word classes, like nouns.

  
iviin  
speed  
speed, velocity  


  
iviin'yc  
speed[adj.]  
fast  


  
aru'e  
enemy  
enemy  


  
aru'ela  
enemy[adj.]  
hostile, enemy-  


Certain combinations and derivations will be favoured above others due to ease of pronunciation, and sometimes it may be that a certain meaning or sense will be attached to one suffix or the other, which can cause some misunderstandings. Using a _beten_ before the suffix is optional and may depend on the individual speaker.

* * *

#### Comparative

As the name already implies, the comparative is the form of an adjective used for comparisons. Mando'a uses a single suffix for all cases, even if there might be some small differences in what exact from this suffix takes.

To build a comparative in Mando'a, regularly the adjective ending is removed and replaced by the comparative suffix. For the suffix-less adjectives, there may be either a slightly irregular form or the comparative suffix will be attached simply to the positive adjective form.

  
jate  
good  
good  


  
jate'shya  
good[comp.]  
better  


  
mesh'la  
beautiful  
beautiful  


  
mesh'shya  
beautiful[comp.]  
more beautiful  


  
aru'ela  
hostile  
hostile  


  
aru'eshya  
hostile[comp.]  
more hostile  


  
iviin'yc  
fast  
fast  


  
iviin'shya  
fast[comp.]  
faster  


There is no clear stated rule on ease of pronunciation for the comparative but it is not unreasonable to assume a certain amount of easing pronunciation does not occur. So, _mesh'la_ could, instead of having a doubled sound in _mesh'shya_ , potentially be shortened to _mesh'ya_ without losing any of its meaning. It may also be reasonable to assume a type of gap vowel might be introduced in words like _iviin'shya_.

The suffix is given as _-shy'a_ in the original grammar guide and the article, but different orthography may be permissible, since _-shya_ is also given in official sources – and it is stated in the article, that the placement of the _beten_ can be differing depending on dialect.

* * *

#### Superlative

The final form for an adjective is the superlative, which is the _most_ an adjective can be. As with the comparative, Mando'a has only a single superlative suffix: _-ne_. It is used like the comparative suffix.

  
mesh'la  
beautiful  
beautiful  


  
mesh'ne  
beautiful[superl.]  
most beautiful  


  
iviin'yc  
fast  
fast  


  
iviin'ne  
fast[superl.]  
fastest  


As with the comparative, there may be some differences due to ease of pronunciation. It is possible that _iviin'ne_ would receive a slightly different ending, like _iviin'e_ or _ivii'ne_ , even though there are no clear examples of it. The usage of the _beten_ between adjective stem and suffix is not obligatory and can be omitted, but may also be used for clarification.

  
jate  
good  
good  


  
jatne  
good[superl.]  
best  


This is one of the few adjectives that have a minimum of irregularity.

* * *

#### Adverbs

Adverbs in Mando'a have the exact same form as the adjectives. There are no distinctive forms to differentiate and there are no clear rules given in how adjectives and adverbs differ in usage in Mando'a. It can be assumed that both adverb and adjective are placed before the word they modify.


	7. Grammar: Verbs

### Verbs

#### Basic Conjugation

Mando'a verbs regularly end on one of the five main verb suffixes: _-ar_ , _-er_ , _-ir_ , _-or_ , _-ur_. Variations with diphthongs or vowels can occur, but still always end with vowel-r and are subject to the same rules as the main suffixes. They follow a very simplified conjugation table, which is reminiscent of English present tense. The conjugated forms are built by taking the verb infinitive (ending on the aforementioned suffixes) and removing the final _-r_ :

slan **ar** | singular | plural  
---|---|---  
1st Per. | (ni) slana | (mhi) slana  
2nd Pers. | (gar) slana | (gar) slana  
3rd Pers. | (kaysh) slana | (val) slana  
  
Since it has no distinctive endings indicating the relevant person, Mando'a requires a pronoun or noun to be clearly understood. In turns of phrase or idioms they can be missing and are implied by context.

There are no known irregular verbs. Even the commonly irregular auxiliary verbs _to be_ (cuyir) and _to have_ (ganar) are regular in Mando'a.

cuy **ir** | singular | plural  
---|---|---  
1st Per. | (ni) cuyi | (mhi) cuyi  
2nd Pers. | (gar) cuyi | (gar) cuyi  
3rd Pers. | (kaysh) cuyi | (val) cuyi  
  
gan **ar** | singular | plural  
---|---|---  
1st Per. | (ni) gana | (mhi) gana  
2nd Pers. | (gar) gana | (gar) gana  
3rd Pers. | (kaysh) gana | (val) gana  
  
It is noteworthy, that in case of _cuyir_ an alternate form is common. This alternate form is achieved by not only removing the final _-r_ , but also the final vowel of the verb stem.

  
cuyir  
to be

  
  


  


  
(ni) cuyi  
(I) am

  
(ni) cuy  
(I) am

  


This approach can also be used for other verbs. Most often it is due to the metric constrains of poetic texts that would require a shortening of syllables, and the final vowel on a verb stem would often cut off a whole syllable.

* * *

#### Imperative

The imperative in Mando'a comes in _two_ forms, which differ by formality. Usually, Mando'a does not have formal or informal forms, however the imperative has a slight nuance. It is not clearly indicated what the nuance exactly means, though. It can be assumed that the _formal_ version would be used in official capacity, like military. Since there is not a big difference, it does not make using one above the other more feasible in the field.

The imperative is built by attaching the prefix _ke-_ to a verb, either as _ke-_ or _k'-_ , depending on which pronunciation is easier. The prefix is attaches to the infinitive verb to get the formal imperative or to the conjugated form for the colloquial:

  
ke jurir kad  
[imp.] carry[inf.] saber  
Carry a saber! (formal)

  
ke juri kad  
[imp.] carry saber  
Carry a saber!(coll.)

  


As with most prefixes given in the original grammar guide, they can be used both as particles _and_ prefixes.

Negative commands are built like the positive imperative with the addition of the negative prefix _nu-_ (s. Negation). There is no exact order for the prefixes given, however, by the example in the grammar guide, it can be deduced that the negation is used directly with the imperative, where it becomes a suffix. The combination would then be placed as a preposition before the verb. It is possible that the placement of the negative prefix (or in this case, the suffix) may influence the meaning of the sentence in a subtle manner – or be just placed like that to differentiate from verbs constructed via a negation.

  
ke'nu jurir kad  
[imp.][neg.] carry[inf.] saber  
Don't carry a saber! ( _free:_ Put the saber down!)

  
  
  


  


It is notable that the given example has a meaning that _could_ be easier brought across using an active verb (to put down, to lay down) instead of using a negated verb. From the literal sense it would seem to imply a more general command than intended. This could be from a subtle connotation in Mando'a, where the negated action is less severe than the active opposite (thus, using _to lay down_ instead of _to not-carry_ might imply a partly metaphorical action).

##### Variants

The imperative in Mando'a is not always built using a verb – or a word that is distinctively recognisable as a verb. There are instances, where a _noun_ is used in place of the verb:

  
K'uur!  
[imp.]silence  
Hush!

  
  
  


  


In this example from the dictionary, the word _uur_ is used in combination with the contracted imperative prefix. _Uur_ is only given as _silence_ in the dictionary, but it can be deduced that this is more likely a noun than a verb from the meaning of the command.

Another variant uses reduced variants of potential verbs or adjectives and adverbs. While it has been noted that the imperative in Mando'a takes either the conjugated verb or its infinitive – with the distinction being in formality – it was stated prior that verbs _may_ be reduced to their stem without a final vowel. Since there are some adjectives that are not distinctive in their form, as they are not built by using the suffixes _-la_ or _-yc_ , it is difficult to distinguish their exact part of speech when used.

  
Ke serim!  
[imp.] correct[adj.]  
Take aim!

  
  
**alt:** be.right[conj.]

  


  
K'olar!  
[imp.]here[adv.]  
Come here!

  
  
**alt:** arrive[conj.]

  


_Serim_ is its own entry as _accurate, correct_ , which indicates that it is an adjective, while _serimir_ is given as a verb. As is, the imperative may be derived from both equally to arrive at the desired meaning. A similar case is with _olar_ in the second example, which _could_ be the adverb _olar_ or the verb _olaror_. There are other examples that are more clear on the usage of a reduced verb stem, which also encompass commands useful in a military operation:

  
Ke'mot!  
[imp.]stand  
Halt!

  
  
  


  


  
Ke'sush!  
[imp.]listen  
Attention!

  
  
  


  


* * *

#### Tense: Past and Future

Mando'a mostly avoids tenses and only included them as a concession to the mindset of Non-Mandalorians. The verb, generally, is in present tense, and if not necessary for the meaning of the given statement, tenses will be omitted in Mando'a. If they _are_ necessary, then a set of prefixes will be used to denote either a future tense or a past tense.

  
ni juri kad  
I carry saber  
I carry a saber

  
  
  


  


  
ni ven juri kad  
I [fut.] carry saber  
I will carry a saber

  
ni ru juri kad  
I [past] carry saber  
I carried a saber

  


Despite being declared as prefixes, the original grammar guide uses _ven_ and _ru_ as unattached particle. It can be surmised, however, that both _ven juri_ and _ven'juri_ would be permitted combinations, especially as there is no difference in meaning.

It is notable that there is only _one_ prefix for past and one for future tense. This can be confusing if one wishes to tell a story which is about something happening in the past, since usually such a tale would entail quite a bit of use of the past perfect (an action that took place _before_ another action in the past). Mando'a does not have such a tense, so it can be argued that Mando'a would use present tense instead of past tense and then use the prefix _ru_ to denote past perfect in such a case.

This is, by itself, not as confusing as it may sound. There exist instances like a _historic present tense_ , which is used to make a tale more vivid. This similarly holds true for the future tense. It can be often derived by context that an action is _not_ happening right now, but is about a future action. Since Mando'a is a more spoken language, it seems reasonable that _time_ would be more indicated by context and time words (like _ibi'tuur_ (today) or _nakar'tuur_ (tomorrow)).

It is pointed out in the grammar guide that Mando'a _colloquially_ only uses present tense but adopted the two prefixes for _species who need specific tenses_. It is possible that the tense prefixes are usually only used when actions that happened _before_ past actions or _after_ future actions need to be described, thus using time words for all other cases – which would also make it easy to indicate progressive tenses by adding _jii_ (now) to such sentences.

* * *

#### Passive

Broadly speaking, Mando'a doesn't use passive. All verbs are considered to be active, so there is no verb-form to indicate passive voice. If a passive is needed, it is formed using the corresponding adjective. This is also the only construction that uses _cuyir_ as something like an auxiliary verb (even though _cuyir_ may be dropped in speech).

  
kad kadiili kaysh  
saber pierce him  
the saber pierces him

  
kaysh cuy kadiila (ti kad)  
he is pierce[adj.] (with saber)  
he is pierced (by a saber)

  


For the passive, there is no readily available example, since the given adjectives and their meanings don't line up properly with the related verbs. Thus, the example is conjecture by using an existing verb and deriving the related adjective with the relevant rules to provide an example.

* * *

#### Nominalisation

Mando'a does not have a canonical way for nominalisation or gerunds, so the following three methods are pure conjecture. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method, even though their usefulness and grade of disadvantage may be dependent on the other speaker and their understanding of these non-standard usages.

##### Method 1

One method and possibly the easiest – both in usage and understanding – is to not use a verb form at all, but go for the corresponding noun. This might need some work when no noun is readily available from the already existing collection of canon words, but has no ambiguity when corresponding with someone who is _not_ aware of the method for nominalisation used otherwise.

  
vercopaanir  
to.wish[verb]  
to wish

  
vercopa  
wish[noun]  
wish

  


So, _vercopaanir bralir_ would be _to wish to succeed_ in English, and _wishing to succeed_ would be said as _vercopa bralir_ ([the] wish to succeed). This method assumes that there is no semantic difference between the nominalised verb and the noun, thus the noun can stand in for the nominalised verb. It eliminates possible subtleties in meaning, but does not necessarily change the overall meaning and is thus a viable option.

##### Method 2

Another method consists of using the base form of a verb or its stem. By shortening the verb through removing the infinitive ending one would, in this method, be left with the nominalised verb form, which then could be used as a noun would be.

  
vercopaanir  
to.wish[verb]  
to wish

  
vercopaan  
wish[stem]  
wishing

  


  
cuyir  
to.exist[verb]  
to exist

  
cuy  
exist[stem]  
existing

  


A definite drawback of this method is the ease with which the resulting nominalised verb could be confused with the colloquially conjugated verb. This becomes quite obvious when looking at the possible form for _cuyir_ , which would result in the colloquial _cuy_. While _cuy_ is often omitted, it would mean that each appearance has to be scrutinised for its meaning. It will often be clear from context simply by placement in the sentence in question – which should hold truer for the verbal use instead of the use as noun.

##### Method 3

The third method goes in a different direction by not changing the verb at all, but adding a marker to denote its status as a nominalised one (thus, receiving the status of noun). This marker would most easily be the indefinite article _eyn_ , since articles only attach to nouns (or nominalised verbs) and, while Mando'a usually does not use articles, using the indefinite article would make it obvious that it is no longer a mere verb.

  
vercopaanir  
to.wish[inf.]  
to wish

  
eyn vercopaanir  
a to.wish[inf.]  
[a] wishing

  


Since _eyn_ has no fixed application in Mando'a beyond existing to date, it would not cause as much confusion as repurposing an already existing verb form would. Also, _eyn_ is an indefinite article, so the nominalised verb should not receive any additional meaning through it like it might happen when using one of the definite articles _te_ or _haar_.


	8. Grammar: Negation

### Negation

#### Nu-

Negation in Mando'a works by adding a prefix to the word that is being negated, not completely unlike the usage of _un-_ in English. The designated prefix for negation in Mando'a is _nu-_ which comes in various forms depending on the negated word and ease of pronunciation. It can appear as _nu-_ , _nu'-_ , _n'-_ or even as _ne-_ , depending on the individual case.

The negative prefix usually precedes and is attached to the negated word, but if a statement is negated, it may also be used as a type of particle. It can be surmised as negating whatever follows it, so if it is attached to a single word, it negates this word. If it occurs at the beginning of a sentence, it negates this whole statement. The difference can be negligible when attached to a verb, since negated verbs do not automatically mean the opposite, even though the placement could be used for emphasis:

nu'ni juri kad  
not-I carry saber  
_I_ don't carry a saber

ni nu'juri kad  
I not-carry saber  
I _don't_ carry a saber

  


Which specific form of the negative prefix is used, is of no consequence. There is no difference in meaning between using _nu-_ or _ne-_ It should be noted, though, that in some cases where _n'-_ is used in front of a vowel, it is _not_ a negative prefix but used as a contracted form of _ni_ (I).

The negative prefix does not only attach to verbs, but can also be used in word-building and attach to an adjective or noun:

ne'waadas  
[neg.]wealth  
poverty

  


Thus, a negative prefix may not only be used to negate a given statement or action, but also to denote words with their own entries in the dictionary. However, this approach makes it easier to construct words when the _positive_ already exists and is thus also an easier way to learn antonyms.

* * *

#### Dar-

The prefix _dar-_ is a type of negative prefix, but not strictly grammatical in its use – it is more a derivational suffix. It is most often seen attached to words to get a new word instead of changing a statement to its negative. Its meaning can be surmised as two-fold: In its first meaning, it indicates _no longer_. This meaning appears in words like _dar'buir_ , which is used for a divorce from one's parents.

Its second meaning is that of temporary, as it appears in words such as _narudar_ (temporary ally). The word literally means _not-enemy-temporary_ , which is quite telling in its underlying meaning of a temporary alliance of the "my enemy's enemy is my friend" variant.

Since it is not clearly stated to be a grammatical prefix, there is no clearly defined usage. However, it probably would be understood if used as an additional verb modifier.


	9. Conversation: Aliit & Addressing People

### Aliit

Family – or _clan_ – is one of the main components of Mandalorian society. This is reflected by _aliit_ (family) being part of the _resol'nare_ (six actions).

Since Mando'a doesn't have much on the front of gendered words – the only ones in the official dictionary are _man_ and _woman_ and not really used – there are only single words for the different family members. It has to be kept in mind when looking at certain expressions, since they are, in Mando'a, ambiguous, but often get made into a specific version when translated to English.

The known words for family members are as follows:

Mando'a | English equivalents | Notes  
---|---|---  
buir | parent; mother, father |   
ad | child; son, daughter | can also be used in a generic way  
vod | sibling; brother, sister | can also refer to a close comrade  
ba'buir | grandparent |   
ba'vodu | aunt, uncle |   
bu'ad | grandchild |   
  
There is no known word for _cousin_ or for _niece, nephew_ in Mando'a, so it is debatable if there simply _is_ no such distinction made – thus either in Mandalorian society, there is no distinction made between your _own_ children and the children of your _vode_ – thus, calling all children _ade_. In the same vein, a cousin would be considered just like a _sibling_ and thus be a _vod_ instead of a more distant relation. It is also possible that those words _exist_ , but are simply not defined in the word lists we have.

There is precedence for using the different terms on their own or with possessive pronouns, as one might expect, but also as a kind of title. This occurs in combination with the given name and results in an (often affectionate) title that can be used like a name:

Kal  
blade  
Kal

Kal'buir  
blade-father  
Dad Kal

  


#### Adoption

In Mandalorian culture, while there is heavy emphasis on _aliit_ (family, clan), it does not mean exclusively blood relations. Thus, the culture relies heavily on the _opposite_ of "blood is thicker than water", summed up in a proverb:

Aliit ori'shya tal'din  
family more [than] bloodline  
family is more than blood

  


Since there are no clear-cut gender roles – even though there may be some implied exceptions to this, in general, there is _no_ difference concerning what a person of a given gender can and can't do apart from biological limitations – there is also no real limit to how an _aliit_ may be formed. This can happen through actual blood relations, marriage, by association or by adopting people into the culture.

This adoption is _not_ limited to children, even though historically it often happens through the adoption of war orphans into the clan. It is equally possible to enter the culture as an adult and become part of a clan like that. There is no bureaucracy involved in the process, since it is considered a matter of the given clan.

The adoption is surmised as _gai bal manda_ , which means _name and soul_ , and is simply done via an adoption vow:

Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad  
I know[coll.] name as-child  
I know your name as my child

  


The actual adoption does not necessarily involve a change of name, even though often the individual in question may take another – either completely or just exchanging the prior surname for the new clan name. It is, however, not strictly necessary.

#### Marriage

Marriage is not seen as unrelenting as it may be in other cultures. It does not require any ceremony, since it is generally an agreement between the respective spouses. The traditional vows are given to each other, but constitute more a kind of contract than anything else, which means that they _can_ be resolved, even if the expectation is for the marriage to be for life – which can end up being rather short considering the dangers of a life as warrior. A marriage commitment can be done by making the vows:

Mhi solus tome  
we one together  
We are one when together

  


Mhi solus dar'tome  
we one neg.-together  
We are one when parted

  


Mhi me'dinui an  
we share all  
We share all

  


Mhi ba'juri verde  
we raise warriors  
We will raise warriors

  


As little ceremony may be needed for a valid Mandalorian marriage, it is supposed to be for life. There also is an emphasis on fidelity and also on chastity before marriage (at least, if it is the first one, since it is quite common for widows and widowers to marry again and also expected). Despite this, there is less concern about actual parentage, though it might be debatable how that plays out within a given marriage.

#### Divorce

While _becoming_ Mandalorian can be done by adoption, it is also possible to _leave_ the Mandalorian culture. This may happen through renouncing it or by having it taken – which is considered rare, but indicative of actions that go against all Mandalorian virtues.

Divorces are possible under exceptional circumstances, but are in essence just as unceremoniously as marriage. It happens through a declaration of _shuk'la riduurok_ (broken love), and poses essentially a dissolution of a contract.

Apart from marriage, an adoption (and also blood relations) can be essentially dissolved, but those are viewed as _worse_ than a divorce. If a child disowns their parent through declaring them _dar'buir_ (no longer a parent), it indicated a gross misdemeanour on part of the parent.

Gar tal'din nu jaon'yc; gar sa buir, ori'waadasla.  
your bloodline [neg.] important; you as parent, very-valuable  
Bloodline is not important, but you as a parent are the most valuable thing.

  


It is commonly understood among Mandalorians, that there is absolutely no relevance to one's parent as a way to gain status – but that status is derived from one's own actions _as_ a parent. Under that aspect, being disowned by one's children is among the highest forms of shame for a Mandalorian. It is rare, though, and usually caused by abandonment on part of the parent or an action, that brings shame to the whole family.

### Addressing People

Mando'a has no distinctive forms for formal and informal address and does not have a polite form to address others with. _Gar_ covers all variations in addressing someone personally, singular and plural. There are some titles that come with specific meanings and should be used carefully if not wishing to offend the other.

_Vod_ is not used to refer to just _anyone_. Using it implies a measure of closeness or extreme disrespect, when using with a threat. Generally, _vod_ is a close comrade, a brother-in-arms, if not a sibling. If it's a friend but not as close, then the term _burc'ya_ can be used.

_Jatne vod_ is the formal way of addressing a patron, corresponding with _Sir_ in English. It is _not_ used in a military context, but by bar staff and similar occupations. It means _best brother_ (or sister, depending on context, where it would be corresponding to _ma'am_ ).

In a military context, the address might be dependent on rank and may be subject to rules and regulations of the respective unit. There are certain terms in Mando'a that correspond with specific military ranks, even though, with Mandalore not having a formal military as such, their use might be inadvisable.

In other circumstances, the usage of the name may be preferred. There are ways to show an informal closeness – by using the given name over the clan name, but also by attaching _-'ika_ to the name to show affection and closeness. There is no stringent rule to how the diminutive of a name is built, however, examples show that it is most often done by taking the first syllable of a name. It is highly dependent on what sounds best.

Ordo  
Bardan  
Etain  
Fi  
Atin  
Mereel

Ord'ika  
Bard'ika  
Et'ika  
F'ika  
At'ika  
Mer'ika


End file.
